North American SNJ-6 accident near Kissimmee, Florida, May 9, 2005
On May 9, 2005 at about 8:20 pm local time, a North American SNJ-6, registered N453WA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Kissimmee, Florida (Kissimmee Muni airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 2 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The failure of the outboard right-wing lower attachment bracket due to fatigue cracking and the subsequent in-flight separation of the right wing assembly.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 9, 2005 · about 8:20 pm local time
- Place
- Kissimmee, Florida · Kissimmee Muni · map
- Type
- Accident · collision on the ground
- Injuries
- 2 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- North American SNJ-6 · all SNJ-6s on the register
- Registration
- N453WA · no longer on the register · serial 121-42823
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The purpose of the flight was to familiarize the student pilot with the airplane within a 30-minute flight lesson, when the certified flight instructor demonstrated various flight and aerobatic maneuvers. Witnesses further observed the airplane enter a spin, and descended rapidly and collided with the ground. Post accident examination of the accident site revealed that the engine, propellers, main fuselage, left wing assembly, vertical and horizontal stabilizers were located in a crater 10-feet in diameter and 6-feet in depth. The right wing assembly was located 0.13 nautical miles on a 354-degree heading from the main wreckage site. No radio transmissions were received from the pilot prior to the accident. Post examination of the right wing revealed it separated due to the fatigue failure of the forward lower attach flange at the inboard side of the right wing attach joint. The fatigue fracture had a primary origin area at the lower surface of the horizontal leg of the flange at the outboard edge of the spot face for the fastener in the outboard fastener row located closest to the forward end of the flange. The fatigue crack propagated relatively slowly upward until it extended nearly through the thickness of the flange and was 2.3 inches long at the lower surface. Additionally slow-growth fatigue cracks were present at the outboard edges of other spot faces aft of the primary origin area. Beyond the slow-growth regions, the crack propagated relatively rapidly to a length of at least 12 inches aft of the forward end. Features associated with the more rapidly propagating portion of the fatigue region included relatively rough fracture features, crack arrest marks at up to 9.3 inches aft of the forward end, and wear between the fastener heads and the flange at distances up to 12 inches aft of the forward end. Subsequent to these findings the Federal Aviation Administration issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring fluorescent dye penetrant inspections of the wing attach flanges at intervals of 200 hours time in service.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Flight instructor
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,469 hours in all; 1,777 in this make and model; 150 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rear
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,580 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, April 1, 2005; 2,320 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,300 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: KISM Kissimmee FL at 8:00 pm
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 180° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat
- Temperature: 82°F (28°C), dew point 54°F (12°C)
- Altimeter: 30.02 inHg
- Observation at 8:46 pm from KISM, 19 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N453WA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ATL05FA079.